Schedule

(Updated June 15, 2026)

Thursday September 10, 2026

(optional) - Potential “Desert Day” of silent retreat beforehand - share interest at registration or with Fr. Luke at lmeyer@stsaaj.org.

Friday, September 11, 2026

3:00 pm   Check in begins at Stiklestad Lodge, Ft. Ransom, ND

5:00 pm   Drinks and Appetizers in Main Lodge

6:00 pm   Supper in Main Lodge

7:00 pm – The Virtuous Judge and Lawyer—A Goal, Not an Oxymoron, Judge Ralph R. Erickson, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit - Main Lodge (1.0 hr. CLE – ND and MN credits requested)

As Catholics we are taught that Christ calls all men to holiness. Thus, we have a moral obligation to strive for holiness, and the Catechism teaches us that striving to be virtuous is necessary if we hope to approach our goal of “being Holy as He is Holy.” At the same time the Legal professions have Codes of Conduct that tell us what we need to do to be on the right side of “the ethical line.” But the Code (or Rules) simply set a minimum that we need to meet in our day-to-day practices to keep our licenses and our jobs (or offices). But if that is all we ever aspire to, we will neither find holiness, nor be the light of justice that God has called each of us to be in this learned and honorable profession.

Fortunately, the Church has given us an ethical framework of virtue that might well prove useful in understanding how we should structure our conduct and our practices to more fully embrace the idea of the “virtuous lawyer or judge.” We will discuss briefly and consider how the Three Theological Virtues, the Four Cardinal Virtues, the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the Seven Capital Virtues operate together in our lives as a path to improved holiness and lead to us being more virtuous. Our purpose in this discussion is to reflect on our personal and professional lives and to develop insight into how we are doing. The idea is that we should be able to identify areas of strength and some “goal areas” as we reflect on the virtuous life and, if all goes according to plan, we will begin to see more clearly that the virtuous life can lead to a life both more peaceful and more rewarding. We will consider whether the reason that so many folks in our profession suffer from anxiety and depression is because many of us feel we are compelled to “swallow our values in order to serve our clients.” Clearly there is pressure on us to believe this—but is it really true?

8:00 pm    Break  

8:15 pm    Night Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours (Chapel)

8:30 pm   Social Time

Saturday, September 12, 2026

7:30 am   Breakfast available until 8:30 am

8:45 am   Morning Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours (Chapel)

9:15 am – The First Amendment in the Supreme Court: Current Developments for Freedoms of Parents and Professionals – Michael S. McGinniss, Professor of Law & J. Philip Johnson Faculty Fellow, University of North Dakota School of Law – Main Lodge (1.0 hr. CLE – ND and MN credits requested)

This program will review and provide opportunities to discuss the implications of key United States Supreme Court decisions from the 2026 term and upcoming in 2027 on First Amendment freedoms, including Chiles v. Salazar (March 2026 decision involving a therapist professional and freedom to engage in “talk therapy” on matters of sexuality and gender in light of Colorado law prohibiting “conversion therapy”) and St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton v. Roy (certiorari granted for 2027 term, involving Colorado law excluding Catholic preschools from its state-funded “universal” preschool program—including public and private schools—because they admit only families who support Catholic beliefs, including on sexuality and gender).

10:15 am  Break

10:30 am - 11:30 am   Bioethics and the Practice of Law: Human Dignity, Professional Integrity, and the Lawyer’s Vocation in North Dakota - Teresa Collett, Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minneapolis, MN - Main Lodge (1.0 hr. Ethics CLE – ND and MN credits requested)

Attorneys representing healthcare institutions, physicians, patients, families, religious organizations, legislators, and governmental entities increasingly encounter disputes at the intersection of law, medicine, science, and morality. At first glance, contemporary bioethical controversies appear disconnected from one another. Abortion, end-of-life care, assisted reproduction, parental authority, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and conscience protections seem to involve different legal doctrines, different clients, and different policy concerns. Upon closer examination, however, these controversies share a common question: How should law respond when autonomy is absent, diminished, contested, or in tension with responsibilities owed to others?

For lawyers, this question is not merely theoretical. We are called upon to advise clients, draft documents, structure transactions, litigate disputes, and shape public policy. In doing so, we inevitably confront deeper questions regarding human dignity, professional responsibility, and the proper limits of legal advocacy. We also are required to fulfill our specific obligations under the rules of professional conduct, including Rules 1.1 (duty of competence), 1.4 (duty to inform), 1.6 (confidentiality), 1.7 (conflicts of interest), 1.14 (clients with diminished or limited capacity), and 2.1 (lawyers as advisors/counselors).

This presentation proceeds from five propositions drawn from Catholic legal thought and reflected in both the Catholic intellectual tradition and the professional responsibilities of lawyers:

  1. Human dignity does not depend upon autonomy.

  2. Human beings exist in relationships, across generations, and from the beginning of the  beings’ existence.

  3. Professional integrity is an essential component of faithful lawyering.

  4. Authority arises from responsibility rather than mere power.

  5. Lawyers remain moral actors and cannot avoid responsibility for the representations they undertake.

These propositions provide a coherent framework for understanding contemporary bioethical controversies and the lawyer's role in addressing them. This presentation will explore each of them with a focus on those questions most likely to arise in the daily practice of law.

11:30 am     Break

12:00 pm   Lunch

1:00 pm   Free Time

5:00 pm   Confessions and Adoration (Chapel)

6:00 pm   Mass (Chapel)

7:00 pm   Supper

8:30 pm   Night Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours (Chapel)

8:45 pm   Social Time

Sunday, September 13, 2026

7:30 am   Brunch Available until 8:30 am

8:30 am    Sunday Morning Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours (Chapel)

9:00 am  Spiritual Reflection and Discussion Topic– Main Lodge

9:40 am   Concluding Reflection – Main Lodge

10:00 am   Departures

Total CLE:  3.0 hours, ND and MN credits applied for